Our life in the foothills of Calaveras County, California. The pond is at the center of everything. In case we should forget, the bullfrogs yell it out all summer long. A noisy place, but home.

Pond!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Tale of Poom's Poodle Tail

As the whole universe is well-aware, Poom sports the most gorgeous and fluffiest of tails. Alas, it has been temporarily modified.

Last Friday, something got hold of Poom by the tail. There was some Poom fur by the garage and he carried his tail down, but there was no blood that we could see (a problem with super-fluffy tails is that it's hard to see past the fur). My hypothesis was that a goose might have charged up behind him and grabbed and given our boy a shaking. It didn't seem serious, so we watched, waited and hoped for the best. On Monday night I had the opportunity to examine his tail again while he was on my lap. This time I saw a puncture wound -- definitely teeth.

Bruce was able to get him in to the vet's on Tuesday morning (before it snowed). The vet's prognosis was that Poom's tail had been bitten several good chomps by another cat. We suspect it may have been our bipolar kitty, Zelda. Poom likes to annoy her (actually he likes to annoy all the cats) and she may have finally had enough. No major damage -- the vet said it was already starting to heal.

It was a humbled Poom who came home again -injected with antibiotics, treated for fleas (again) and sporting a jaunty poodle puff-ball on the end of his tail.

He was upset about all of this for about three minutes. Then, Poom being Poom, he got back to being Poom.

In short order, he got the kitchen rugs whipped back into shape...

...admired his handsome mug in the door's reflection...

...and then ended off the day by taking over the entire bed, as only a large, contented Poom can.

Which reminds me: when Poom went in to the vet's for the first time last July, he was an emaciated 7 pounds. He's almost doubled in size since then -- we now have 13.5 pounds of Poom. Now that's a hefty boy!

About Me

My husband and I live in a small house by a small pond that is just past the first and smallest foothill of the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Our nearest town has the rather large name of Copperopolis, but the town itself is also very small. During the school year I drive my small car down into the valley to teach 4th grade at – you guessed it – a smallish school. On both a grand and a personal scale, life is too short and too miraculous to be taken for granted. This chronicle of our life here at Frogpond Acres is one way for me to remain mindful and appreciative of the many not-so-small wonders and blessings that surround us.